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through the rain

I don’t mind rain, as long as it is just rain.
Where I live though it is always a combination of rain and (strong) winds. Now this I do mind.

This reminds me of an Italian friend who once said: “In the Netherlands it rains horizontally”

I wonder whether I will miss this rain and wind when I move to Singapore…

The photo was taken at a temple called 灵隐寺, also translated as the Temple of the Soul’s Retreat, in Hangzhou, China. It was Lantern Festival that day, 15 days after Lunar New Year, a day on which people massively visit this temple.

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This image actually belongs to the previous post, therefore I have repeated the photo of last post below…

So a woman was selling these snacks in some alley, preparing them by heating them up (steaming) as you can see in the image. The woman in the back – with the grumpy face – was some street police or security or something telling them to wrap it up quickly and stand somewhere else to sell…

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And the China series continues…

I might throw in some images not taken in China soon, just to change the pattern a bit, but there’s just so much to show. I haven’t even really started with the food yet !

These were some snacks being sold in some alley while we walked through downtown Hangzhou, China. They stacked them in these boxes on a cart, which was attached to a bike (as you can see). The snacks were really good, especially in a moment I was craving for something to still my hunger

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in search of style

{ NOTE: for any of you browsing in Google Chrome, the colours of the image come out differently than I want to – try Firefox to see the ‘real’ image }

I have been into photography since 2008, and I have always been looking for that certain style that feels right to me. The above image is the closest I am to what feels right to me now.

I’ve always admired other photographers for their creativity and for the personal touch they give their images (talking about you here ). This always made me doubt about my own skills and creativity and at the same time it made me try to improve and try new things.

As I feel I’m getting close to a style that I feel comfortable with, questions arise, since I wonder whether this is just another phase in which I prefer a certain style or type of photography while in a year from now I might be focusing on another type or style…

So many photographers are able to focus on a specific type of photography, in which they have created their own style, for years or decades. I ask myself whether they have ever thought about changing the type or style, or is this specific type the only one that interests them? Or perhaps it is related to the followers, since some types or styles attract a certain target group which appeals to them or to which they have adapted themselves (e.g. initially they might have tried different things, but let’s say the ‘bokeh’ photos attracted most viewers so they stuck to that type of photography).

This isn’t meant to be offensive in any way, I like bokeh images as much as I like interiors/architecture/portraits/landscapes etc. These are just questions going through my head, because I feel that there are so many types of photography and so many different styles that I can not imagine myself focusing on one of them for the rest of this photographic journey. But perhaps this is a personality thing, since I have the same issue with my studies: I’m a coastal engineer but I can not imagine myself not exploring other fields such as psychology, philosophy, medicine etc during this lifetime…

I wonder how you think about this. I’m sure you can tell me things I didn’t think about or I just don’t know (yet). Or I might just see it all wrongly and I’m probably going through phases many (of you) have gone through already (which is highly probable of course).

If you managed to get through this text, feel free to share your thoughts, I’m really curious…

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Alone in the dark.

During my 11hr flight to China I couldn’t sleep (the plane departed at 9pm, going eastwards or ‘into the future’ as some like to believe) and apparently I wasn’t the only one. Some guys stayed up all night, watching movies or whatever there was available to watch. So did the guy on the photo. In the dark you could clearly see his face lightened up by the small display; as far as I noticed he didn’t move his head at all that night, as if he was sucked into whatever he was watching, while everyone else except us was asleep…

I managed to sleep 2 hours or so, but not until I had watched this movie called Drive. I had only heard about the name before that, but didn’t know what to expect. I don’t like action movies, I’m not into violence at all, but for some reason this movie really got to me that night. It just felt right, the style in which it was filmed, the music, the acting. I felt like I was watching some movie from the 80s, set in the world of today. I liked it so much that I wanted to watch it again afterwards (but I didn’t, I fell asleep). Yes, I like it so much that I put my blog name in the same pink style as the title of the movie… at least until I get sick of it.

Don’t expect this a must-watch after reading this, it could be my weird taste in movies. It’s not a feel-good movie, it actually made me feel lonely at that moment, though in a strangely positive way.

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At 灵隐寺, also translated as the Temple of the Soul’s Retreat in/near Hangzhou city, China. Not much to add here… just that it is a beautiful and peaceful place to visit, despite all the people walking around – but that was because of the celebration of the Lantern festival, 15 days after Lunar New Year

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Lines and circles.
These images reflect my love for simplicity, nature and colours (despite the b&w images I often post)…

Both images were taken in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province, China.
If I wasn’t waiting for my girlfriend somewhere around the famous West Lake (I add ‘famous’ so you will Google it of course!) I probably would have never noticed the characters carved in the bamboo. If there are any Chinese passing by this blog, feel free to write down a translation of what’s written there – unless it’s something really bad, then we’ll just keep pretending it’s beautiful words I might ask my girl when I get to talk to her again as well…

The umbrellas are handmade and are attached to the ceiling of a museum about Chinese fans and umbrellas.

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My first upload from my short trip to China. There are many words to describe the experience, but for me the most important one is simply food. In the 10 days I spent with my girlfriend and her relatives and friends I have eaten so incredibly much and so many different things. There is such an abundance of food and it is so well prepared, that it is almost impossible to withstand trying everything they serve.

I will upload many more food related images in the days-weeks-months to come, but I thought I’d start it off with a capture of a beautifully decorated (from the outside at least) kitchen of one of the many eating places at Hong Kong International Airport.

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My first try on street photography, which wasn’t on the streets by the way…

I’ve been wanting to explore street photography for a while already, and the X10 is the perfect companion for that. It is so incredibly light (compared to my previous cameras) and hardly anyone notices me while taking photos, which of course is very helpful…

I am new to this field, so I still need a while to find a style that I feel comfortable with. But with the X10 I just feel so damn cool haha, that I don’t even care whether people notice me or not (while I’m definitely not the person who likes to draw attention). There’s a barrier I have been wanting to cross for a long time already, a barrier that holds me back from taking photos whenever I feel like (often because I don’t want to be annoying to others) and one that actually makes me feel ashamed of taking photos of different things, of which other people (some friends) think it is pointless to take photos of.

I’m slowly breaking through that barrier and starting to care less, so hopefully this will grow into something good.

I’ve learned two major things today:

1. Don’t delete every photo that is blurry or not as you wanted it to be right away. Just let it be for a while, perhaps later you might even like the unexpected result.
2. Don’t ask, just shoot. I know this is something many street photographers have repeated many times already, but it’s always good to find out for yourself that it actually works and saves a lot of time.

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I was showing my new toy to my girlfriend during one of our Skype sessions. You can see – by the tilt of her head – that she was not interested at all haha…

Sometimes I wonder how it must have been for people maintaining long-distance relationships many years ago, not having the luxury we have nowadays. I think many do not realize how good things actually are nowadays (at least in developed countries), how easy life can be if we stop being so greedy. People seem so uneasily satisfied (is ‘uneasily’ a word?).

Just be happy with the basic things you need in life, of which in my opinion the most important one is love. And not necessarily love from the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, but love from friends, family, from the birds singing in the morning, the light that touches your skin when the sun breaks through, etcetera. Life is a gift already, and all the rest thus a bonus.

For all the tough guys out there, you don’t have to be a girl or gay to admit to this basic necessity. You’ll notice many of your ‘problems’ will fade away if you try to look at all things as being a gift. I write ‘problems’, because in the end life is what we make of it and so are the problems. Just enjoy, and appreciate.